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The bulletin of Atlanta University, 1903 no. 141

The bulletin of Atlanta University

NUMBER 141* ATLANTA, GEORGIA DECEMBER, 1903 For statement of the work of At-lanta University see last page. GETTING TOGETHER ON THE NEGRO QUESTION [From article by Dr. F. C. Woodward in South Atlantic Quarterly for October.] The South, moreover, is slow to grasp the historically proved fact that no large part of a people may be socially, politically, and intellectually repressed; without becoming either a criminal or proletarian class, menacing peace, baulking progress, thwarting prosperity. If selfish aims alone incited the Southerner to seek the settlement of the Negro problem, the first lesson they should teach him is that the destinies of white and black are fast interlinked in this section, and, beneficently or maleficently, shall work out together. People are not deported by millions; the man who suggests this solution for happy final results from methods of repression may be passed by as impervious to the light of experience, and he who fancies that one-third of the people of a great section can be kept in ignorance, subserviency, and serfdom, while the favored two-thirds enjoy the blessings of a generous civilization, stands refuted by history. It has been and still is physically possible to hold an inferior class subservient to their superiors; but if history "has proved anything, it is that for both inferior and superior such exploitations result in industrial, political, and moral detriment. No people can hope to go forward a large portion of whom are doomed by repressive force to social subserviency, political nonentity, and moral irresponsibility, their destiny depending not upon their own wills, but upon the dictum of an ascendant caste. This is the elementary lesson the South sadly needs to learn, and it has not yet turned that page. STIRRING UP THE FIRES OF RACE ANTIPATHY [From article by Professor John Spencer Bassett in South Atlantic Quarterly for October.] It is important for us to note that the prog-, ress of the Negro has brought him opposition as well as his regression. Of this the white men who oppose him may not be conscious. They may even fancy that they are the best of friends to the Negro. But the advance of the Negro in education and in economic conditions brings him ever into new conflicts with the white man. This is true because his advance means a greater degree of comfort—a greater disposition to desire the means of higher life. As long as he was merely a laborer it was not hard to draw the line which divided him from other people. It was at that time not hard for him to be content with inferior hotels, or with accommodations in the kitchens of better hotels. In these days he is becoming too intelligent and too refined to be content with these things. He. demands a better place. Formerly, it did not hurt his pride to ride in a "Jim Crow" car; for he had little or no pride of that kind. Now, be considers this law a badge of inferiority, a mark of intolerance which he will some day seek to wipe out. With most white Americans there is a very definite notion that the Negro has his "place." In their minds this notion is a caste feeling. It is an inherited feeling; and it is not difficult to find facts in the Negro's life which seem to give it the support of expediency. To make him know his "place," and to make him keep his "place" sum up the philosophy of many people in reference to this intricate and perplexing problem. But we ought to remember that such an idea is neither scientific nor charitable. The "place" of every man in our American life is such as and his capacities may enable him to take. Not even a black skin and a flat nose can justify caste in this country. MORE HOPEFUL SOUTHERN SENTIMENT In our October number, we quoted some very encouraging utterances of Dr. John Spencer Bassett, printed in the July issue of the South Atlantic Quarterly, published at Durham, N. C. In the October number of the same quarterly are to be found four articles of a similarly encouraging character, all relating directly or indirectly to the race question. So remarkable indeed are these articles that they may be said to form an epoch in the Southern discussion of the great subject involved. Two of the writers, Professors Bassett and Mims, are professors in Trinity College, Durham, N. C, a third, Dr. Kilgo, is president of the same institution, and the fourth, Dr. Woodward, is president of South Carolina College, at Columbia, S. C. We are glad to print in this issue of the Bulletin extracts from all four of these articles, only regretting that our space will not permit us to make them longer, as they are all so good. It is doubtless known to many of our readers that Professor Bassett's article brought so much criticism upon him and Trinity College that he felt compelled to resign his position. The gratifying news has just come, as we write, that the trustees have declined to accept his resignation. When we remem- ber the fate of Professor Sledd of Emory College in Georgia, who for similarly outspoken utterances was compelled by his trustees to resign, it is evident that a great triumph for freedom of utterance in the South has been secured. How great the need of such a victory is, can be realized when one is told that the unpardonable offense of Professor Bassett was the statement in his article that Booker Washington "is a great and good man, a Christian statesman, and take him all in all the greatest man, save General Lee, born in the South in a hundred years." HENRY O. TANNER, ARTIST As one enters the front door of our principal school building, Stone Hall, in the lower hall he finds four photographs of paintings by the colored artist, Henry O. Tanner. These photographs were sent from Paris as the gift of Miss Olivia E. P. Stokes of New York, nearly four years ago, and were acknowledged in our columns at the time. The subjects are: Daniel in the Lion's Den, The Raising of Lazarus, Nicodemus Coming to Christ, and The Annunciation. Mr. Tanner was born in Philadelphia, and is the son of Bishop Tanner of the A. M. E. Church. Speaking of his own earlier efforts, he remarks as follows: From my earliest childhood I drew in my own untutored way, although my ambition was not thoroughly awakened until I had an opportunity of watching some artists out sketching. My wonder increased, as from a few rudimentary lines I saw the picture develop, shaping itself into the semblance of the scene before me. I went home with the firm determination to make art my profession. My friends accorded me scanty encouragement, regarding me as an idle dreamer. 1 finally decided to seek admission to the art school of Philadelphia, my native city. In this I succeeded, and became a student in the Academy of Fine Arts, which is one of the best equipped schools in America. Paris was the Mecca to which I turned— Paris, with its great galleries, its traditions of the past, its living masters. Unluckily, my aspirations did not bid fair to meet their fruition. However, my earnestness won me friends, and finally a generous patron came toward and lent me sufficient money to go ahead and spend a year. I sailed for France in 1891. Financially, Mr. Tanner had a struggle during the first part of his residence in Paris. But he worked hard, soon gaining recognition. He is now well known among artists, especially in biblical subjects, and his paintings are found in many first-class collections.

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Transcript

NUMBER 141* ATLANTA, GEORGIA DECEMBER, 1903 For statement of the work of At-lanta University see last page. GETTING TOGETHER ON THE NEGRO QUESTION [From article by Dr. F. C. Woodward in South Atlantic Quarterly for October.] The South, moreover, is slow to grasp the historically proved fact that no large part of a people may be socially, politically, and intellectually repressed; without becoming either a criminal or proletarian class, menacing peace, baulking progress, thwarting prosperity. If selfish aims alone incited the Southerner to seek the settlement of the Negro problem, the first lesson they should teach him is that the destinies of white and black are fast interlinked in this section, and, beneficently or maleficently, shall work out together. People are not deported by millions; the man who suggests this solution for happy final results from methods of repression may be passed by as impervious to the light of experience, and he who fancies that one-third of the people of a great section can be kept in ignorance, subserviency, and serfdom, while the favored two-thirds enjoy the blessings of a generous civilization, stands refuted by history. It has been and still is physically possible to hold an inferior class subservient to their superiors; but if history "has proved anything, it is that for both inferior and superior such exploitations result in industrial, political, and moral detriment. No people can hope to go forward a large portion of whom are doomed by repressive force to social subserviency, political nonentity, and moral irresponsibility, their destiny depending not upon their own wills, but upon the dictum of an ascendant caste. This is the elementary lesson the South sadly needs to learn, and it has not yet turned that page. STIRRING UP THE FIRES OF RACE ANTIPATHY [From article by Professor John Spencer Bassett in South Atlantic Quarterly for October.] It is important for us to note that the prog-, ress of the Negro has brought him opposition as well as his regression. Of this the white men who oppose him may not be conscious. They may even fancy that they are the best of friends to the Negro. But the advance of the Negro in education and in economic conditions brings him ever into new conflicts with the white man. This is true because his advance means a greater degree of comfort—a greater disposition to desire the means of higher life. As long as he was merely a laborer it was not hard to draw the line which divided him from other people. It was at that time not hard for him to be content with inferior hotels, or with accommodations in the kitchens of better hotels. In these days he is becoming too intelligent and too refined to be content with these things. He. demands a better place. Formerly, it did not hurt his pride to ride in a "Jim Crow" car; for he had little or no pride of that kind. Now, be considers this law a badge of inferiority, a mark of intolerance which he will some day seek to wipe out. With most white Americans there is a very definite notion that the Negro has his "place." In their minds this notion is a caste feeling. It is an inherited feeling; and it is not difficult to find facts in the Negro's life which seem to give it the support of expediency. To make him know his "place," and to make him keep his "place" sum up the philosophy of many people in reference to this intricate and perplexing problem. But we ought to remember that such an idea is neither scientific nor charitable. The "place" of every man in our American life is such as and his capacities may enable him to take. Not even a black skin and a flat nose can justify caste in this country. MORE HOPEFUL SOUTHERN SENTIMENT In our October number, we quoted some very encouraging utterances of Dr. John Spencer Bassett, printed in the July issue of the South Atlantic Quarterly, published at Durham, N. C. In the October number of the same quarterly are to be found four articles of a similarly encouraging character, all relating directly or indirectly to the race question. So remarkable indeed are these articles that they may be said to form an epoch in the Southern discussion of the great subject involved. Two of the writers, Professors Bassett and Mims, are professors in Trinity College, Durham, N. C, a third, Dr. Kilgo, is president of the same institution, and the fourth, Dr. Woodward, is president of South Carolina College, at Columbia, S. C. We are glad to print in this issue of the Bulletin extracts from all four of these articles, only regretting that our space will not permit us to make them longer, as they are all so good. It is doubtless known to many of our readers that Professor Bassett's article brought so much criticism upon him and Trinity College that he felt compelled to resign his position. The gratifying news has just come, as we write, that the trustees have declined to accept his resignation. When we remem- ber the fate of Professor Sledd of Emory College in Georgia, who for similarly outspoken utterances was compelled by his trustees to resign, it is evident that a great triumph for freedom of utterance in the South has been secured. How great the need of such a victory is, can be realized when one is told that the unpardonable offense of Professor Bassett was the statement in his article that Booker Washington "is a great and good man, a Christian statesman, and take him all in all the greatest man, save General Lee, born in the South in a hundred years." HENRY O. TANNER, ARTIST As one enters the front door of our principal school building, Stone Hall, in the lower hall he finds four photographs of paintings by the colored artist, Henry O. Tanner. These photographs were sent from Paris as the gift of Miss Olivia E. P. Stokes of New York, nearly four years ago, and were acknowledged in our columns at the time. The subjects are: Daniel in the Lion's Den, The Raising of Lazarus, Nicodemus Coming to Christ, and The Annunciation. Mr. Tanner was born in Philadelphia, and is the son of Bishop Tanner of the A. M. E. Church. Speaking of his own earlier efforts, he remarks as follows: From my earliest childhood I drew in my own untutored way, although my ambition was not thoroughly awakened until I had an opportunity of watching some artists out sketching. My wonder increased, as from a few rudimentary lines I saw the picture develop, shaping itself into the semblance of the scene before me. I went home with the firm determination to make art my profession. My friends accorded me scanty encouragement, regarding me as an idle dreamer. 1 finally decided to seek admission to the art school of Philadelphia, my native city. In this I succeeded, and became a student in the Academy of Fine Arts, which is one of the best equipped schools in America. Paris was the Mecca to which I turned— Paris, with its great galleries, its traditions of the past, its living masters. Unluckily, my aspirations did not bid fair to meet their fruition. However, my earnestness won me friends, and finally a generous patron came toward and lent me sufficient money to go ahead and spend a year. I sailed for France in 1891. Financially, Mr. Tanner had a struggle during the first part of his residence in Paris. But he worked hard, soon gaining recognition. He is now well known among artists, especially in biblical subjects, and his paintings are found in many first-class collections.